


Someone's Someone

by setrevuo



Series: 28-day ficlet writing challenge [17]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gyms, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationships, Working Out My Feelings Through Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23728663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setrevuo/pseuds/setrevuo
Summary: Shownu finds himself an unexpected new gym partner.
Relationships: Im Changkyun | I.M & Son Hyunwoo | Shownu
Series: 28-day ficlet writing challenge [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686037
Kudos: 13





	Someone's Someone

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt - MOOD: write about your current emotion; PURPOSE: write about the reason you think you were born.
> 
> i'm combining days 17 and 18 bc i skipped yday lol

Shownu figures if he keeps moving, he won’t have to feel.

Sweat trickles down his forehead and pools just above his brows. He frowns, slipping off the towel hanging over his shoulder and pats the sweat off before throwing it back on. The steady rhythm of his running shoes hitting the treadmill puts his mind at a familiar ease. With the sound of his own pulse beating against his eardrums, thoughts have little chance to be heard.

But in a way, having the gym room to himself makes it all the more difficult for him to be surrounded in silence. There’s nobody running next to him anymore. Nobody’s words to turn his ears to, and so his brain automatically resorts to talking to itself. And his brain does not have very nice words for him. So Shownu tries to shut off that conversation by running harder, faster, longer everyday.

“Shownu.” 

It’s not until Changkyun steps in front of Shownu’s treadmill that the latter realizes someone else has been calling his name. 

A hand holds out a phone. White text reading 02:35 AM blinks on the screen. Shownu’s eyes flicker from the phone to Changkyun, whose sleep-heavy eyes are creased in concern.

Shownu wordlessly shakes his head, flicking beats of sweat off his face. 

“Fine.”

Changkyun leaves and comes back shortly, having changed out of his pajamas into workout sweats. Shownu trails his eyes through his peripherals as the other steps onto the treadmill next to him, and eventually cranks up the speed to a jog.

Neither talk for the next twenty minutes. Shownu still hears his heartbeat. He still feels the hard surface of the conveyor belt below him. But he also hears and feels the presence of another person, and that’s enough to keep his nasty thoughts at bay. His ears can face outward now, away from what his head has to tell him.

In the end, Shownu makes the call to end their workout session. Changkyun is breathing heavily now, and his nose is sniffling a little. But Shownu knows he’s more of a wreck. Fortunately, his outer self can handle much more than his inner self.

The next night, Changkyun shows up even earlier, around 1:00 AM. Shownu had started running only an hour before that. This time, Changkyun’s already prepared with his workout clothes and has filled water bottles for the both of them. He drops Shownu’s bottle in the cup holder in his treadmill before hopping onto his own. Shownu’s surprised at the repeat guest, but conveys his gratitude in a small smile.

It’s a quiet tonight, too, both outside and inside Shownu’s head. Changkyun alternates between jogs and walks, listening to his own music through earphones to keep himself awake. Shownu decides to call it a night even earlier this time, stepping off the treadmill in under an hour.

The routine continues for days, without break. It doesn’t matter if they have practice late into the night, or if they have an early studio session the next morning. When Shownu hits the gym, Changkyun soon follows. The room stays silent, but warm instead of a metallic cold. And day by day, Shownu pushes himself a little less, and lets himself heal a little more.

Changkyun steps into the gym room right behind Shownu one night.

“Can you be my trainer?”

That stops Shownu in his tracks, and Changkyun nearly collides with him. 

Changkyun had started showing more interest in working out last year. He had someone to teach him gym basics in this very room, back then. It was the same someone whose words Shownu’s ears can no longer hear. Shownu wonders if it was right for Changkyun to replace his someone with someone else. Especially if that someone else is as lacking as Shownu.

But Changkyun isn’t waiting for an answer. Instead, he navigates around Shownu and marches towards the weight training equipment before looking back up, waiting. Eventually, seeing Shownu not budging from the doorway, Changkyun relents. When he speaks, the tiredness in his voice is all too recognizable.

“I just don’t want to give up everything.”

The response triggers a switch in Shownu’s brain. His face dawns into one of clarity, purpose, direction. Turning those few words around, he realizes just how much he needed to hear them. With that realization, a chasm breaks open, finally drowning out what had been festering in his head without restraint. He absorbs these feelings like he was parched for them, like they were the droplets of rain that his dry land had been yearning for.

“Who says we have to give up anything?”

Shownu’s own smile is sparked from the immediately contagious smile of the other person in the room. Suddenly energized, Changkyun turns around and pats at the seat of the nearby leg press as his mouth starts moving a mile a minute with questions. Shownu walks towards him, letting out a light laugh as he patiently begins showing the way. With Changkyun treasuring each answer as if they were precious gemstones, Shownu’s heart glows. And he finds in himself a reason to continue again.


End file.
